


Rusted, Gilded Cage

by SharkGirl



Series: Home [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Animal Hybrids, Animal Hybrid AU, Blood, Happy Ending, M/M, Minor Character Death, Original Character Death(s), Ownership, Prequel, Sad, Sad with a Happy Ending, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-31
Updated: 2016-05-31
Packaged: 2018-07-11 10:10:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7044112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SharkGirl/pseuds/SharkGirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prequel to Broken Wings</p>
<p>Akaashi's past.  Before Kuroo found him and before he found Bokuto.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rusted, Gilded Cage

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pilvenpiirtaja](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pilvenpiirtaja/gifts).



> Well, you know I can't resist someone asking for something nicely, so...here it is!
> 
> I hope you like it! I sort of went overboard with the backstory... This was just supposed to be about his escape. Oops!!
> 
> It's a little more violent than I normally write, but it's still soft cuz I'm a big softy.

Akaashi continued running, not even sure which direction he was going.  He only wanted to get farther away.  As far as he could.

The rain was falling down in heavy sheets, obscuring his vision and making the dark of night somehow darker.

His wings ached.  They burned.

He was certain he’d lose his left one.  He couldn’t move it anymore.  Could barely feel it.

But that didn’t matter.  He’d gladly give up both his wings for his freedom.  Anything to get away.

There was nothing left for him there.

He slipped in a puddle and fell, feeling the cold water splash his face.  But he pulled himself up and continued running.  There was still chance that they were coming after him.

 

Akaashi was a hybrid, part owl and part man.  Genetically engineered and created in a lab.  He wasn’t the only one of his kind, but bird hybrids were rarer than others, more difficult to create.  Because owners wanted their birds to fly and designing wings large enough to propel a humanoid body into the air without the aid of hollow bones proved difficult.

Still, he existed, named Akaashi after the rufous-legged owl with which his DNA was spliced.  He looked almost completely human save for his brown owl wings, dappled with white and tan.  He’d been told they were pretty, but that was by potential buyers admiring him from the other side of thick glass.

Most people wanted a cat or a dog.  Cat hybrids, though it was just a rumor, were apparently the most sensual and Akaashi had seen many of their kind going home with rich men and women much older than them.  Dogs, on the other hand, were protectors, engineered to be much larger and heavily muscled.

Akaashi thought that, perhaps, there was no market for his kind, as he was passed over time and again.

But then _she_ came.

She was young and kind and sweet, with curly golden hair and bright green eyes.  She had walked up to the glass and pressed her hands and face against it, squishing her nose as her wide eyes took in Akaashi’s form.

She looked away for a moment, speaking to a man behind her, her voice muffled by the thick glass, and then she turned back, a bright smile on her youthful face.

Her name was Amelie.  She and her father had moved to Japan for her father's job.  Her mother was Japanese, but Akaashi found out that she had passed away several years earlier when the girl was still in diapers.

He learned that Amelie was six, ten years younger than he was.  Though she acted very mature for her age.

“This one, Daddy,” she’d said, smile bright as the sun.

“But Dearest, I thought we’d get you a dog to protect you while I’m at work.”  He looked up at Akaashi, eyeing his wings and sneering in disgust.  Akaashi unconsciously folded them behind his back.

As it turned out, Amelie had her father wrapped around her finger and, that very day, Akaashi found himself in his very own ‘forever home’ – a name the marketing company came up with to guilt buyers into keeping their hybrids, just in case they thought about returning them.

For four years Akaashi stayed by Amelie’s side, reading to her, singing her songs while she brushed her dolls’ hair, and joining her for tea parties.  But, at her tenth birthday party, it was announced that she would be going to a boarding school in France and Akaashi knew he couldn’t follow her.

“Take care of Daddy for me,” she said as she stroked one of his wings.

And then she was gone.  Out of his life forever.  She would be attending that school until she was of age and, by then, surely she would have no place in her life for him.  It was just as well that she leave while he was still her favorite toy.

The first night Amelie was gone, Akaashi was led out of her bedroom and all of his belongings removed from his room adjacent.  He was placed in a room on the first floor of their large house, far from the living areas and obviously unfrequented, judging by the dust and cobwebs on the molding and picture frames in the hallway leading up to it.

The room was small, dark, and dank.  It was a much older part of the house and it reeked of mold and something else that Akaashi couldn’t quite place, but it made him scrunch up his nose.

“They will no longer accept returns,” Amelie’s father said, walking over to a corner of the room.  “And since you were quite expensive, I can’t just throw you away.” He paused, turning to face him. “Much as I’d like to.”

Akaashi knew the older man didn’t care for him.  He’d never hid his disgust and revulsion at what Akaashi was.

“She couldn’t have wanted a dog.” The man sighed. “Something useful.”

Akaashi lowered his head.

“No matter.” The man walked toward him. “I suppose you’re mine now.”

“Yes, si-”

“Do not speak unless you are spoken to!” he shouted and slapped Akaashi across the cheek, startling him.

 

Another two years went by like that.  Akaashi was kept in the dark room, Amelie’s father – ‘Master,’ he reminded himself – had demanded his wings be bound, held in place with leather straps.  It was uncomfortable, but he managed.

It was when the wings were unbound, that he had trouble.  When his master would spread them out, spit on them in disgust, and whip and cut into his back, threatening to cut his wings off once and for all.

“Hideous things.” He’d say.  “Better off without them. You can’t fly.”

But he could fly.  He loved to fly.  He'd soared with Amelie only once before a maid caught them and demanded she be returned to the ground immediately.  Amelie had begged her not to tell her father.  Even at her young age, she knew what might happen if he found out.

 

The beatings continued.

And finally, Akaashi’d had enough.

He was on his belly, facedown, his nose pushed into the old carpet.  His master was kneeling on his lower back, holding him down, a sharp blade in his hands.

“Tonight’s the night,” he slurred, obviously drunk. He’d stumbled into the room, waving a knife around and cursing.  His most recent woman must have left him and he was in a bad mood.  “Gonna cut ‘em off.”  He spoke in a way not fitting his position as the head of a rich and powerful household.

“Master, please-” Akaashi began in his normal docile tone, not wishing to anger him further.

“Shut up!” he roared and Akaashi felt the blade bite into his skin.

He was a fast healer.  All hybrids were.  But the crisscross cuts littering his back from his last encounter with his master were still fresh.  He had once again not been given enough time to recover between punishments.

And why was he being punished?  What could he do to stop it?

“Filthy animal.” His master spit on him.  Then Akaashi felt the sharp point of the knife at his scapula, teasing around the spot where soft feathers met skin.  “Without these you’re basically human right?”

“Stop!” Akaashi struggled, but the man was larger than him and he was weak from lack of exercise and malnutrition.  His wings were still bound, the leather straps digging in as he tried to free them, to knock his master off and run for the open door.

“I said shut up!”

Akaashi let out a howl as he felt the blade dig into his flesh.  He pushed back and managed to throw his master off of his back.  His wing hurt, he wasn't sure how deep the cut was, but he would manage.  He started to run, but the man was on him again, knocking him to the floor.

“Where are you going? You’re mine!” he hissed and grabbed his arms, forcing them behind his back.  “But you’re so worthless.” He slid a hand down his naked back, stopping at the waistband of the tattered underwear he wore – the only article of clothing a beast deserved, just enough to hide his shame.

“Master…” Akaashi kept his voice cool.  He wanted to break free, but he thought of Amelie.  She’d asked him to take care of her father.  He needed to stay home until she returned.  He couldn’t abandon him, no matter how awful a master he was.  “Amelie…”

“Don’t you _dare_ say her name!” His master sliced into him again, but then the knife was skittering across the floor, released from numb hands.  It took Akaashi a moment to realize the other man was crying.

He crawled away from him and pushed himself up against the wall on shaky legs.

“She’s gone.”

Akaashi drew his brows down, but kept an eye on the knife not far from his master’s side.

“Amelie…Miss Amelie,” Akaashi began, “She’s at school. She’ll be-”

“She’s gone!” his master repeated. “She never went to school!”

Akaashi was confused.  But Amelie had gone.  She told him to take care of her father.  She was going to come back.

“Same disease her mother had…” the older man held his head in his hands. “Even the best treatments in France weren’t enough.”

“Miss Amelie…she’s-”

“Dead.” His master reached out and grabbed the blade, getting up onto his feet and holding it out in front of him.  “Fell into a coma six months ago.”

Six months…

Akaashi felt an icy hand reach into his chest and grip his heart, squeezing it tightly.  Amelie.  His Amelie.  The only person who’d ever loved him.  That sweet, innocent child.  She was gone?

He had no reason to stay here now.

Akaashi turned to leave, but his master called after him.

“Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m leaving,” he replied coolly and looked back at him over his shoulder. “This is no longer my home. Miss Amelie was my owner, not-”

“ _I_ am your owner!” he barked.  “I paid for you. Your papers are in my name. This is the only home you’ll ever have, understand?”  He held the knife up and surprised Akaashi by pressing it against his own throat. “The only way you can leave is if you kill me.” He gave a deranged smile, his eyes wide and wild. “But I can’t imagine what they’d do to an animal that killed its owner.”

Akaashi was hurt.  He was tired.  He wanted to be anywhere else, but he knew he couldn’t kill someone.

“It’s a real shame,” his master said, eyes never leaving Akaashi’s. “I really would have liked to see them put you down.”  And then he thrust the knife toward himself.  Akaashi ran forward to stop him, but he was too late.  His master fell to the ground, blood pooling around him as the life drained from his body.  “Ame…lie…” he choked out. “Dad…dy’s…c-c-”

Akaashi knelt beside him.  He knew he needed to put pressure on the wound, but as he reached forward, he heard someone scream.  He turned and saw one of the maids.

“Monsieur!” she screeched, her face white as a sheet.  After her outburst, another person came, one of the butlers from the main area of the house.  He pushed past Akaashi and checked his master’s pulse.

“He’s dead.” He turned toward Akaashi. “You killed him.”

“No…” Akaashi stood up and took a few steps back. “I…I didn’t-”

“Phone the police,” the butler shouted to the maid. “I’ll attempt to detain the creature.”

Akaashi didn’t know what to do, so he panicked.  He took off down the hallway, bare feet leaving bloody footprints as he did.  He crashed into several members of the staff, many surprised to see him out, others shocked as they were unaware of his existence.

But he ran and ran and kept running.

He made it outside just as the rain started to fall.

He wasn’t sure how long he’d been running or even if anyone was chasing him.  He knew he’d lost a lot of blood.  Perhaps they thought he’d die all on his own.

The fifth time he fell, he didn’t get up.  He rolled onto his back, staring up as the rain fell down onto his face, illuminated by the streetlamp above.  The droplets almost looked like stars.

His entire body ached and his eyelids felt heavy.  If he just closed his eyes for a moment, if he just took a little rest, maybe he’d be able to make it. Wherever it was he was trying to go.

Home?

Akaashi took a shuddering breath and was about to let his eyes slip closed when something blocked the lamplight from above.  Or, rather, someone.

“Hey!”

He had dark, spiky hair with messy bangs obscuring one of his eyes. 

“Who…?” Akaashi began weakly, but then the darkness started to close in.  He absently felt himself being lifted into the other’s arms, his wings screaming in pain as he was carried, but the pain dulled and he closed his eyes.

“You’re going to be okay,” he heard the man say.

Would he?

 

Akaashi cracked his eyes open, blinking as the morning light flooded his vision.  Bokuto had left the blinds open again.  He looked over at the slumbering man beside him.

It was hard to imagine that, only a few weeks ago, Akaashi had been at Death’s door, carried to Bokuto’s place by the man’s friend Kuroo, his savior.  And, even though Kuroo had been the one to find him and get him to safety, Bokuto was the one to whom he owed his life.

Together they’d repaired his body, aiding the healing process and ensuring his bones were set properly, but Bokuto had repaired his soul.

Just the day before, they’d kissed.  Akaashi felt a small smile grace his lips and he couldn’t help it.  He leaned down and pecked the taller man’s cheek, but, as he made to pull back, a strong arm came up and wrapped around him, crushing him against his broad chest.

“Bokuto-san,” he said, voice muffled by the fabric of the other’s shirt.

“Five more minutes…” Bokuto murmured and Akaashi found himself smiling again.  He nuzzled closer and let his eyes slip closed.

He was home.

**Author's Note:**

> Let me know what you thought and hit me up on tumblr [@jubesy](http://jubesy.tumblr.com)!


End file.
